Hello one & all! I can’t even start this post without first discussing a very important matter: Did you watch the Bachelor earlier this week?!? Hooooly smokes, that episode… I dare say it was the most dramatic episode I have ever seen (WTA was nuts too). Would love to hear your thoughts. Our jaws were on the floor in disbelief… and I actually kinda knew spoilers (they were so hard to avoid this season), but watching it play out was just … wowza.
So since our little Staycation in SF, it’s been pretty hum-drum with work, school work, and general life maintenance. This post basically highlights some our favorite things we’ve munched on the past couple weeks with little random tidbits sprinkled throughout.
I mentioned how I wasn’t feeling 100% going into our best SF weekend, but just ignored the bug creeping in. Wellll, although I survived our time in The City, when I woke up on February 17th, I felt like a train had hit me. I think I overdid it a bit, but still wouldn’t have changed anything! I was basically bed-bound for the day and watched church online. Also if you are interested in our church’s sermons you can find them here. For breakfast I was craving something warm & comforting- so I enjoyed a purple sweet potato with Fage, avocado, boca crumbles, vegan cheese, hummus, and tzatziki.
On February 18th, aka Bachelor Monday, I woke up feeling much better. Not 100%, but definitely more like a human being. I started my day with oatmeal, blueberries, fage, protein powder, and a sprinkle of stevia.
February 19th, we woke up to no water in our apartment. A HUGE main water line broke on the second floor of the building environmentally evicting everyone on that floor & shutting down businesses nearby 🙁 We ended up having no water for about three days. I have told people it was like experiencing our very own Fyre Festival. I had to make a couple trips to the local Target to stock up on gallons of water. Let me say, I have never been so thankful & relieved to take a full shower when the water came back on. I will never take a shower for granted again. On that morning I was craving a cafe au lait, so I went to the Starbucks located inside the Tarjay where I stocked up on some water.
This is a new one to add to the list, Cyra! “Nancy”… “Mackenzie”….. Same diff.
When I got home I dumped my cup into an actual coffee mug to rewarm it- gotta have it pipin’ hot. Also, I am back on my avocado smoothie kick . I paired this with some oats topped with granola. I love mixing these textures & flavors.
One of my favorite snacks during the day was a brioche grilled cheese with TJ’s vegan cheese & tomato soup. Mmm. Since I still wasn’t totally up to par, this was a great little combo.
In the evening I went to School of Leadership with my dinner packed in hand. I had to leave the house at 6 to get there by 7 because of traffic (even though it’s only 15 mins without). We are there till 9:30 ish so I had to make sure to pack my food.. otherwise my hangry Hyde would come out of hiding. No bueno.
On February 20th I woke up with the same avocado smoothie. Midday for a study break I concocted a snack of purple sweet potato, an over medium egg, hummus, more avocado with pink Himalayan sea salt and crushed red pepper.
In order to clear my head in the afternoon I got a quick run in on the tread & lifted some weights. I’ve been doing short little 10 min lifting workouts every few days and am loving how much stronger I feel in general. It’s not much- only up to about 5- 12.5 lb. dumbbells, but it’s an improvement!
After, I threw together my trough salad with alll the whole garden, vegan crumbles, cheese, and tons of hummus.
February 21st I baked us tilapia with brown rice and roasted zucchini with Koop’s Arizona heat all over it. That sauce is tooooo tasty. I know it’s a bit much to just slather the whole dish with it, but it’s that good & goes with everything.
February 22nd was more Avo smoothie for breakfast and this time I topped it with some granola.
So, here’s a picture of the second floor after the flood. They had to rip out the entire carpet and flooring. I feel awful for the people that live there.. our main elevators are broken because of it now too. Ugh, what a mess.
Anywhoooo, that evening DJ and I decided on a little easy date night. There is a new spot that opened on Main Street in Cupertino that looked like a fun vibe. We decided to give it a go.
We arrived around 6:30 pm, and basically had the whole place to ourselves. I loved the interior- I’d describe it as a chic sports bar.
We weren’t planning on having a full dinner, just a drink & an appetizer. We shared a platter of their house potato chips & dip. Okay, I’m not a big potato chip person, but these were ridiculously yummy. That dip *insert drooling emoji*…. mmmmm!
& It paired well with their beautiful paper crane martini. This was a tiny too sweet for my liking, but still good- I think most people would enjoy it. I just really don’t prefer mixed drinks- Every time I try to venture out I just end up wishing I’d ordered a simple glass of wine instead– they just taste “sticky” to me, lol. but hey, it was pretty!
When we came home I made our dinner-dinner. For Deej: a Bubba Burger with french onion straws, gruyere cheese, and ketchup/mustard.
For me: fish, roasted beets, roasted eggplant, and brown rice. I was on a kick of fish that week. Also, I’ve been using the original Mrs. Dash which has been a total game changer in seasoning. Although I still have to mix in my pink himalayan sea salt 😉
February 23rd was a long study day. Then in the evening I made us another meal of tilapia, roasted zucchini, and brown rice.
Sunday the 24th we went early to serve at Church- I loved this idea from hospitality team! Bahaha. Their puns are on point.
For lunch I had some oatmeal with frozen raspberries, almonds, coffee protein powder, and Fage.
DJ enjoyed an after-Church snack of a caprese salad with pita chips, hummus, and salsa con queso. The pita chips from TJ’s are perfectly salty, crunchy & versatile- they go with basically any dip.
That evening I made DJ another burger & whaddya know I had fish with brown rice and tons of veggies (Don’t worry- I won’t post such a redundant shot).
February 25th I submitted a paper and took a big breath of relief. We were getting really low on groceries by this point, so time to get creative again. I mixed some cauli mashed potatoes with cottage cheese warmed up with black bean burger and hummus. Sounds a bit strange, but it was reallly savory and delicious.
You know at some point tacos had to be in the mix! Caprese salads actually pair pretty well because they are so light & refreshing mixed with the spicy tacos.
I had a stuffed sweet potato with about four egg whites with veggies, hummus, and cottage cheese (most of it is under the egg), and tabasco in lieu of tacos since I was out of boca meat. It was a surprisingly great combo.
February 26th I baked up some of my PB & chocolate oatmeal protein bites to have with avocado smoothies in the mornings.
In the evening we had our last school of leadership. I have officially completed the first session! There are three total. I’m not sure I’ll be able to do all three right now, but after a little break I may do #2 in a month…. we’ll see! I really enjoyed the first round & learned a ton.
In the morning of Wednesday the 27th I had to run to the store for a few items, and looked to my right greeted by a double rainbow. Not a bad way to start the day 🙂 There have been buckets upon buckets of rain here lately that I feel like I’ve seen more rainbows in a couple months than my entire life combined.
After being cooped up with school all day, I was ecstatic to get out of the house and meet up with some dear friends from my nursing cohort. I decided to walk to Santana Row to clear my head (it’s about a four mile walk). We’d be finishing dinner when DJ left work, so he said he’d just pick me up since it’s right on the way home. On my way I saw this license plate…. ha! Love this person’s sense of humor.
We met up at Pizza Antica again. You may remember the last time we met up back in September!
I had the goat cheese and kale pizza… one of my favorite pizzas I’ve ever had. It was actually way better than the pizza I had last time I was here too. Their homemade crust is realllly well done.
On Thursday the 27th, I was out of avocados, but I whipped up a dragonfruit bowl and had it with two protein bites.
For a snack at some point I had a stuffed sweet potato with hummus, cottage cheese, and tomatoes.
For DJ I put together two gyros with meat from TJ’s with vine ripened tomatoes and tzatziki sauce on fresh pita.
Friday morning of March 1st I did a HITT routine through Fitness Blender to start the day! In the evening I went to a food blogger event 🙂 Can’t wait to share that in another post.
Question for you:
- Are you on any food kicks lately?
xo <3
